[Q] How to manage Contacts - General Topics

Don't know where the best place to post this so it's here in General.. ^_^
What is the best way to manage and tidy up contacts?
Background:
I've suddenly got over 1000 contacts (most are duplicates of duplicates!)
I've not got all my Gmail, Mobile, Facebook & UbuntuOne contacts combined into a single HUGE mess... (Most had already synced with each other before they were synced with the HTC Desire HD).
There's loads of mis-matched contacts which is a nightmare to sort out in the Mobile.
Most of the sites only offer online management and going through 1000+ contacts would takes days..

I would love to receive some tips on the topic as well. Sitting on a Mac though.

s0litaire said:
Don't know where the best place to post this so it's here in General.. ^_^
What is the best way to manage and tidy up contacts?
Background:
I've suddenly got over 1000 contacts (most are duplicates of duplicates!)
I've not got all my Gmail, Mobile, Facebook & UbuntuOne contacts combined into a single HUGE mess... (Most had already synced with each other before they were synced with the HTC Desire HD).
There's loads of mis-matched contacts which is a nightmare to sort out in the Mobile.
Most of the sites only offer online management and going through 1000+ contacts would takes days..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Go to your google account on the computer. http://www.google.com/contacts
and push "Find all duplicates," then merge them on the top. Now you got all your contacts without duplicates. Delete contacts on your phone and then Sync it. You done. Use that page to sort them out as well.

Doing that sorted out about a third of the duplicates...
But that does not account for the mislabelled contacts..
Looks like I gonna have to do the rest by hand. Gonna take ages...
Ermm... how do you delete all the contacts in the Desire HD?
Can only see an option to do them one at a time...
I'm running CyanogenMod 6.1.3

Related

Facebook app

Which app do you advise ? The Samsung integrated in the Social Hub or the official one from the market ?
I come from a TP where I really liked HTC's integration of facebook in Sense. Not too invasive and living quite well with my exchange account
Right now my contacts in my outlook (2011) on my PC are linked with their facebook profile, and so are they in Sense. With my Tab I worry a little bit about putting a mess in a system that has found its balance
Any risk to duplicate contacts if I use the Samsubg app ? Or the Android app ? Will they merge properly with my exchnage contacts ? Stay aside ?
I just dont wnat to make the step to find out after I messed up my contact list (More than 1200 people so clenaing that up would take me a few days....)
Hi I use Facebook from the market and also use one called boo
Sent from my GT-P1000 using XDA App
If it ain't broke, don't fix it.
The built-in one is pretty much for synching only, any actual facebook viewing would need to be done via the browser.
I switched from the built-in SNS client to the official Facebook client and didn't experience any problems.
knightnz said:
If it ain't broke, don't fix it.
The built-in one is pretty much for synching only, any actual facebook viewing would need to be done via the browser.
I switched from the built-in SNS client to the official Facebook client and didn't experience any problems.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I haven't installed anything yet Not tryig to fix anything just trying to be sure what I'll do wont create troubles to my contact list
The built-in app is just meant to sync your existing contacts on the phone and match them with facebook friends ? Or it adds all the facebook friends ?
The official app doesnt do this ?
Don't get the account permissions confused if you install the market app. Its annoying to find you gave the stock app permissions that arent on the market app.
Sent from my SGH-T849 using XDA App
Alcibiade said:
I haven't installed anything yet Not tryig to fix anything just trying to be sure what I'll do wont create troubles to my contact list
The built-in app is just meant to sync your existing contacts on the phone and match them with facebook friends ? Or it adds all the facebook friends ?
The official app doesnt do this ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Both versions sync contact pictures etc. The official app gives you the option to sync pictures+status updates with all friends, just those with existing contact entries, or none at all.
knightnz said:
Both versions sync contact pictures etc. The official app gives you the option to sync pictures+status updates with all friends, just those with existing contact entries, or none at all.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
OK, thanks. To be clear the Samsung one will not offer more and wont let me the choice about what I sync and what i don't sync
Alcibiade said:
OK, thanks. To be clear the Samsung one will not offer more and wont let me the choice about what I sync and what i don't sync
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Anyone ? Maybe I am making too much fuss about this but I dont wnat to mes up my exchange contact list...
Not 100% sure about this, but I don't think it will mess up any of your existing contacts.
When logging in using the official Facebook app, it will create a sort of 'profile' for all existing contacts -- it won't merge info with the actual contact. You'll see this when you edit a contact, there will be 2 (or more) tabs when editing the contact.
It's like a 'Metacontact' in Trillian wherein it's only a merged 'View' of a contact, but in reality the data is in separate 'profiles'. The Facebook tab is uneditable and will only display info.
The only problem I have so far is that when creating a new SMS, it will display -ALL- contact numbers and e-mail address of contacts, even if the number is exactly the same:
i.e. I have a contact named Bob Smith in my Google, Exchange and Facebook accounts, and they are merged as one account. In the Dialer, all the info is merged into one contact when displaying, but when editing, they are editable in 3 separate tabs.
However when I create an SMS and scroll to find Bob Smith, it displays all contact infos of Bob Smith, even duplicate ones, like if I have his number +123456789 on Google and Exchange and Facebook, it displays 3 same numbers when selecting a recipient.
Edit:
Also, when you sign out or remove the Facebook app, it will delete the Facebook 'profile' of the contact on your contacts list, maintaining the state of the previous contact before you logged in / installed Facebook.
Thanks a lot, that's good to know
I already saw the mess it was having google contacts and exchnage contacts (I usually maintain both... for 1200 contacts!) The worst is for contacts for which I entered only the first name... they happen to be all merged together (Well done samsung... They could have defined a merge key a bit larger than just the name........)
What about when you use the Samsung app ?? Someone knows ?

[Q] Managing Contacts, simple options?

Hi, Just got my charge today and synced up my contacts from my gmail (primary contacts list), facebook and twitter. But my contacts seem to be a mess. Many of them were automagically linked together but many others just show repeats of each other and when I link them manually, it seems as if I am loosing some information. Also, many of my google contacts show up multiple times with repeated info, when I link them it just ends up doubling up on everything. Moving from an old HTC windows mobile phone, I am stuck with these ridiculous notes in contacts that HTC used for its sync.
An example, My friend Becky has two contact entries, both from google (despite only one entry in my google contacts). One contains most of the info and the other just an email address, when I join them I loose the number and name and just end up with her email address as the contact. What gives? My question:
Is there a decent contact manager recommended that will join contacts as one contact (not multiple) and remove redundant information?
Is there any logic to joining contacts that will prevent me from loosing information like that or am I doing something wrong?
How do I add my google contacts "into my phone" so that I can use it to create groups and the such? I believe I can just export a contacts file and import it but I am afraid I would run into the same problem of multiple contacts with the same information in them.
Any help would be appreciated, thanks!
ok heres what i would do, remove all the accounts with contacts from the phone and then reboot. now add your google account back and check it. if every thing is good. move on with Facebook and such.. i dont let Facebook sync with my phone after what happened to me. anyways check it again.
this fixed my problem with google and hotmail, and other accounts. hopefully it will work for you.
Or you can open up contacts, hit menu and set the privcey filters..like don't show Facebook contacts etc
I dont think so
If you download the Facebook app from the market it gives you different options to sync. I sync only with exsiting contacts that are in my phonebook. That way I don't have a million people in my contacts list.
I followed your advice and got it the way I like. I had to sync twitter and facebook through the phone and manually combine contacts. At least now when I user the message app, I don't have four or five of the same people. Out was word when I first noticed the facebook and twitter apps both have an additional sync option. This is my first android smartphone too. Thanks for the advice.
Sent from my SCH-I510 using XDA Premium App

Exporting AND SYNCING contacts stored on phone to google

I've contacts that are stored on the 'Phone'. Is there some way to copy AND SYNC them in future with Google And Microsoft Exchange Activesync(Hotmail) ? Is there any app which does this ?
Any help guys ? Of late , xda doesn't seem to be providing me with some useful solutions :-(
And here we are , bumping once more.
Hi looks like you need help.
Well, I'd say there's not much in terms of apps that I know of that can do this all in one go (if anyone finds one, post it? If i find one, ill post it too), but I do know of a pretty simple way to do it:
1.) Using the built-in Contacts app or whatever other app that you want, export the CVS/vCard file of your current address book for your phone into your SD card.
2.) From here, upload it to your Gmail by either throwing the file into your computer and loading the file from your harddrive to their servers, or just do it through the mobile browser (if you have problems with the mobile website since I haven't tried this myself, try using Dolphin Browser HD definitely a great app)
3.) Viola! Everything should be synced and in order
It's true that this is not a one-click solution to your problem. There is one for HTC phones built into their ROM, but it has a bug which prevents syncing if you have the birthday field filled out or something like that. If you could tell me what phone it is, maybe I can help a bit more. In the meanwhile, I'll look for some apps. If you could make do with this for now, you should be good to go (though 3 clicks isn't really all that bad )
-EDIT- Forgot to mention, you can also use that CVS/vCard file and easily just dump it into Outlook. Another 2 clicks, but it ain't so bad now, is it?
-EDIT2- Well, after a few more searches, it seems that Google is supposed to auto sync contacts 2-way on all phones with their gmail accounts associated with the device. I don't know if they apply to contacts you've gotten through Facebook, but it does seem to work for the most part. As for the ActiveExchange thingy, I think this app might suffice if you're willing to shell out a small bit of money: http://www.androidtapp.com/exchange-by-touchdown/ Didn't test the app myself, so ask around first and read up on it (Google ).
If you're willing to shell out a good amount of money (hefty 25 buckaroos), here's a supposedly good app: http://www.tgdaily.com/mobility-fea...-of-corporate-exchange-contacts-and-calendars
IMHO, if i were you, I would just stick to the whole 5 step process. Not sure if the ActiveExchange can accept vCards/CVS (never had to use it), but you save yourself 25 or so bucks. But, that's just my two cents on it. Your choice
~jojojohnson7410
Hey thanks for your help first off
I've a HTC Legend.
Ok , I get your point. If I sync it with GMail , will ALL the alternate contact numbers , group info , Facebook Profile pics , their birth dates be synced ?
abhishek_turbo911 said:
Hey thanks for your help first off
I've a HTC Legend.
Ok , I get your point. If I sync it with GMail , will ALL the alternate contact numbers , group info , Facebook Profile pics , their birth dates be synced ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You have an HTC phone, so the contacts and stuff SHOULD be synced with your HTC account/google account too. Just in case, I'd double-check right now.
As for if it will back up ALL that stuff, the answer is yes. This is because vCards and CVS are able to handle various amount of data, so it should also be recognize by Google, at the very least (but its standard so it should also work with Outlook/whatever other program). The only thing that won't be synced is the facebook pictures only because they can change, but if you were to add your facebook account to your phone, it will automatically take care of this, so you shouldn't have to worry about it.
As usual, if you're willing to shell out a bit of cash, here's a solution to your FB photo problem. Hope everything works out for you
~jojojohnson7410
jojojohnson7410 said:
You have an HTC phone, so the contacts and stuff SHOULD be synced with your HTC account/google account too. Just in case, I'd double-check right now.
As for if it will back up ALL that stuff, the answer is yes. This is because vCards and CVS are able to handle various amount of data, so it should also be recognize by Google, at the very least (but its standard so it should also work with Outlook/whatever other program). The only thing that won't be synced is the facebook pictures only because they can change, but if you were to add your facebook account to your phone, it will automatically take care of this, so you shouldn't have to worry about it.
As usual, if you're willing to shell out a bit of cash, here's a solution to your FB photo problem. Hope everything works out for you
~jojojohnson7410
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I will not be using Outlook , firstly. No , the contacts are not synced with the GMail (Google Account). I am under the presumption that only contacts SAVED on Google Account can be synced. Since they are saved on the phone memory ... I don;t know. But please enlighten me.
abhishek_turbo911 said:
I will not be using Outlook , firstly. No , the contacts are not synced with the GMail (Google Account). I am under the presumption that only contacts SAVED on Google Account can be synced. Since they are saved on the phone memory ... I don;t know. But please enlighten me.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Okay, well, if you check it out here, you'll find the thing you might need for the corporate sync since you're not using Outlook (my bad. like i said, don't use it too much) and if this link doesn't work, you might need an update then.
As for the Google sync problem, I did a bit of researching. Apparently, its 2-way syncing, but like you probably noticed, it's not doing so hot. After fooling around for a bit, I finally got it to work pretty well. Apparently, you need a couple of conditions set in place in order for it to work nicely:
1.) Have the GMail app and set it to use your default email
2.) Make sure that under Accounts > [email protected] settings, you check sync next to Contacts (and if it still doesn't work, then try also syncing GMail.)
3.) If your phone has a Battery Manager (mine does) make sure that the setting you choose does not put restrictions on sync! (if it does, then you'll see a lag between syncs. For me, it was 15 minutes)
Thanks to Darth_Penguin for the first two tips.
Last but not least, the strangest thing I've encountered yet: Export your phone contact's list and import it into Gmail at LEAST once. Here's the reason why:
It seems that Google is syncing your contacts that you make. It works very well and doesn't seem to have a hitch pulling stuff that you have on your contacts book. However, there's a flaw: it doesn't play so nicely with Facebook. Most of us have Facebook synced onto our devices and we forget about that. It's true most of our contacts aren't in our gmail, but that's because we never had all of those FB friends names in our gmail either. That's why it seems it's not syncing right. if you want it to, I would suggest this: Import your entire contacts into your SD card through the menu button in your Contacts program, then export it out. Sync that file with Gmail, and you should be good to go. Sometimes, we sync it to Facebook, but it doesn't mean it'll sync to Gmail. Haven't tested out whether or not you'll end up with doubles, but i'll update if i get a chance (planning out beach day!) =D let me know how it goes for you (but that should work. In the odd chance it doesn't, at least we've tried something)
Good luck!
~jojojohnson7410
jojojohnson7410 said:
Okay, well, if you check it out here, you'll find the thing you might need for the corporate sync since you're not using Outlook (my bad. like i said, don't use it too much) and if this link doesn't work, you might need an update then.
As for the Google sync problem, I did a bit of researching. Apparently, its 2-way syncing, but like you probably noticed, it's not doing so hot. After fooling around for a bit, I finally got it to work pretty well. Apparently, you need a couple of conditions set in place in order for it to work nicely:
1.) Have the GMail app and set it to use your default email
2.) Make sure that under Accounts > [email protected] settings, you check sync next to Contacts (and if it still doesn't work, then try also syncing GMail.)
3.) If your phone has a Battery Manager (mine does) make sure that the setting you choose does not put restrictions on sync! (if it does, then you'll see a lag between syncs. For me, it was 15 minutes)
Thanks to Darth_Penguin for the first two tips.
Last but not least, the strangest thing I've encountered yet: Export your phone contact's list and import it into Gmail at LEAST once. Here's the reason why:
It seems that Google is syncing your contacts that you make. It works very well and doesn't seem to have a hitch pulling stuff that you have on your contacts book. However, there's a flaw: it doesn't play so nicely with Facebook. Most of us have Facebook synced onto our devices and we forget about that. It's true most of our contacts aren't in our gmail, but that's because we never had all of those FB friends names in our gmail either. That's why it seems it's not syncing right. if you want it to, I would suggest this: Import your entire contacts into your SD card through the menu button in your Contacts program, then export it out. Sync that file with Gmail, and you should be good to go. Sometimes, we sync it to Facebook, but it doesn't mean it'll sync to Gmail. Haven't tested out whether or not you'll end up with doubles, but i'll update if i get a chance (planning out beach day!) =D let me know how it goes for you (but that should work. In the odd chance it doesn't, at least we've tried something)
Good luck!
~jojojohnson7410
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ok, the top most segment does not work. I have tried the last para. Here's what I did,
1. I imported the contacts to my gmail account by the vcf file.
2. All my contacts have come up but not their profile pic
3. Now what ? I did'nt understand this segment.
" Sync that file with Gmail, and you should be good to go. Sometimes, we sync it to Facebook, but it doesn't mean it'll sync to Gmail. Haven't tested out whether or not you'll end up with doubles, but i'll update if i get a chance (planning out beach day!) =D let me know how it goes for you (but that should work. In the odd chance it doesn't, at least we've tried something)"
ALSO, now if I want to 'sync' do I always have to do this way of exporting the vcf file ?
Okay the reason why you don't have the profile pics are because those don't get saved into the vcf files. Only textual data. The pictures came from facebook and unless you use an app or program or service, you can only get the pictures synced to your contacts by syncing with facebook. And as for the loading the vcf, you only need to do this once to sync all contacts from across all your services (facebook, gmail, etc.). So long as you only add contacts through your contacts app, you should have no problems with your gmail.
however, do note that if another third party app/service syncs in a new contact for you (e.g. Facebook), it will NOT sync with gmail as they don't support third party companies. If it's a problem, either sync your device with your third party company (e.g. Facebook) our just do the vcf trick I taught you every once in a while to synchronize all your services/contacts
~ jojojohnson7410
Sent from my MB860 using XDA Premium App

[Q] Contacts a mess

I have just upgraded my DHD to the sensation having origanally come from the desire. When I set the phone up it automatically imports my contacts etc from google but now they are in a right mess and duplicated loads of times. Instead of 350 contacts I have 1275. what's the best way to sort this out to neaten it all up?? I would also like to link to Facebook profiles for pictures etc. Do I link to facebook for htc sense or Facebook???
tcuk31 said:
I have just upgraded my DHD to the sensation having origanally come from the desire. When I set the phone up it automatically imports my contacts etc from google but now they are in a right mess and duplicated loads of times. Instead of 350 contacts I have 1275. what's the best way to sort this out to neaten it all up?? I would also like to link to Facebook profiles for pictures etc. Do I link to facebook for htc sense or Facebook???
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
To me it automatically gave me the option to link contacts. You can also try people>menu>view and then select what to display
Sent from my HTC Sensation Z710e
Yeah it gave me the option to link bit as there are so many duplicates it's all a mess. I've tried the viewing of certain groups etc but I just want to get rid of all the duplicated entries and tidy it all up.
BE CAREFUL!
Some of the dups are actually the same contacts broken up in to multiple items. If you have a contact that has 3 phones numbers it can broke it up in to 3 contacts...
I have 960 contacts instead of 200
did you sync with HTCsense.com? that also backs up your contacts & restores as well. that & the HTC Sync desktop client totally ****ed up my contacts. I stopped using them after that.

Noob's question on HTC Sense - Sorry if it seems dumb!

I just got my Sensation after jumping from the "magick Kingdom of Apple (tm)" and an old iPhone 3G.
I'm so pleased with the Sensation, the screen is amazing and so responsive but - since I'm used to Apple's - "My way or the Highway" approach, some of the freedom has me totally confused.
On the 3G there was one mail app - I see I now have GMail and HTC Mail and that's before I go near the Market.
I had a simple contact app but now I'm pushed towards HTC People which is flooding in my facebook contacts and their posts when mostly I just want folks names and numbers to phone or txt them. If I want facebook I'm happy to start a Facebook app, other than that I really can't be ar$ed reading the piles of crap that too many "friends" are putting on.
I read that I will have some things sync'ing via Google "automatically" and the phone keeps pestering me to sign up for an HTC Sense account while online forums are saying don't have a Sense account running as it will eat up your battery...
Maybe if HTC provided a manual with more than 10 miniature pages to start explaining all this!!!!
Can someone please explain in noob friendly English what is the best combination of general apps / syncing to get mail, contacts, SMS and calendar working so that they are automatically backed up but without trying to sync every 10 mins and running the battery down quicker than my car drinks petrol (which is pretty damn fast!). I don't care if its the HTC apps or Google Apps, I just one to be running one mail client, 1 calendar etc and be able to get all that data back should I need to.
I'm not a complete idiot by the way, I ran the 3G JB'd and unlocked for 3 years through every update Apple put out and I am here because I will root and load a custom rom eventually, but I'd like to learn my way about before doing anything too adventurous.
Anyone offer me any advice or point me to a website offering a class in "HTC Sense 101".
Thanks
BelfastLad
I second this question, starting new on a sensation this week and.... somehow my facebook wants to link with my HTC facebook.... wtf? Didn't realize the sense account was wasting my battery... should I disable it?... Basic configuration theory regarding all this Sense stuff would be useful... thanks.
BelfastLad said:
I just got my Sensation after jumping from the "magick Kingdom of Apple (tm)" and an old iPhone 3G.
I'm so pleased with the Sensation, the screen is amazing and so responsive but - since I'm used to Apple's - "My way or the Highway" approach, some of the freedom has me totally confused.
On the 3G there was one mail app - I see I now have GMail and HTC Mail and that's before I go near the Market.
I had a simple contact app but now I'm pushed towards HTC People which is flooding in my facebook contacts and their posts when mostly I just want folks names and numbers to phone or txt them. If I want facebook I'm happy to start a Facebook app, other than that I really can't be ar$ed reading the piles of crap that too many "friends" are putting on.
I read that I will have some things sync'ing via Google "automatically" and the phone keeps pestering me to sign up for an HTC Sense account while online forums are saying don't have a Sense account running as it will eat up your battery...
Maybe if HTC provided a manual with more than 10 miniature pages to start explaining all this!!!!
Can someone please explain in noob friendly English what is the best combination of general apps / syncing to get mail, contacts, SMS and calendar working so that they are automatically backed up but without trying to sync every 10 mins and running the battery down quicker than my car drinks petrol (which is pretty damn fast!). I don't care if its the HTC apps or Google Apps, I just one to be running one mail client, 1 calendar etc and be able to get all that data back should I need to.
I'm not a complete idiot by the way, I ran the 3G JB'd and unlocked for 3 years through every update Apple put out and I am here because I will root and load a custom rom eventually, but I'd like to learn my way about before doing anything too adventurous.
Anyone offer me any advice or point me to a website offering a class in "HTC Sense 101".
Thanks
BelfastLad
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
cbutters said:
I second this question, starting new on a sensation this week and.... somehow my facebook wants to link with my HTC facebook.... wtf? Didn't realize the sense account was wasting my battery... should I disable it?... Basic configuration theory regarding all this Sense stuff would be useful... thanks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Gmail is the official google app for Gmail. By default, Gmail will show your google account stuff when you first sign into google account and link it to your phone.
HTC Mail is a mail client that you can configure to show any of your emails. For example, I have my Gmail specifically for my gmail (I could funnel my hotmail and exchange account to my gmail, but I don't want to), and I use my HTC Mail specifically for my Exchange account.
Now, with Facebook. I linked my Facebook account with Facebook for HTC Sense. You don't have to do this, but if you like using Friend Stream instead of the official Android app, do this.
If you go to settings > Accounts & sync > Facebook for HTC Sense, you can sync live feed, calendar, and/or contacts.
I sync my contacts so that my Gmail contacts come up with facebook pictures.
With the official Facebook app, it'll ask you if you want to sync contacts. I choose no because it funnels ALL of your Facebook friends into your contacts account, something I don't like.
If this is all confusing, you can just go to contacts, hit menu, hit view, scroll down to options, and uncheck the Facebook so that they don't show up in your contacts.
I hope this helps. Let me know if you want more info.
Just use the gmail app for email (assuming you only use gmail) go into accounts and sync, add your google account and it will auto sync your mail, contacts and callendar. Dont worry about battery drain gmail uses push email.
Unless you want to use the htc fabeook or friend stream widgets I would avoid facebook for htc sense, just add your facebook account in accounts and sync, it will import your facebook friends into your contacts (if you want), shortly after youll get a notification about matched contacts and you can link your existing contacts with your facebook contacts, so all information (phone, email, address, facebook etc) is under a single contact. This same process can be done using your twitter account.
As for calendar there are several calendar apps on the market, I personally use Jorte calendar, it will sync with your goole calander and has some nice widget options and nice UI.
The only things I have auto syncing on my phone are google, facebook and twitter and weather. Like I said, unless you want to use the htc widgets I would avoid syncing anything "sense" related.
Thanks for the pointers so far
Thanks to the Mod who helpfully moved my thread. I'll watch that more carefully in future.
And to the guys who've posted some good helpful advice, much appreciated.
By this time next week I'm sure I'll be well sorted. The week after I'll probably be getting itchy fingers to get rooting!
Thanks for the help but I'd still echo the 2nd posters comments. A guide to initial set-up and recommended first tweaks would be great if some "expert" could ever find the time to write one.
- Any takers?????
A "quick" guide to HTC Sense
I will try to make this as simple as I can. Feel free to fill in the gaps if I miss something.
Initial Setup
It's nice of HTC to include a personalised version of that Android initial setup, but I recommend you skip through as much as you can.
- Select you language --- pretty straight forward, right?
- Transfer my stuff --- it's a really great tool if you need to use it
- Internet connection --- choose "Mobile network or Wi-Fi"; I don't know if this is the case with the Sensation, but on older HTC phones this setting actually forces the phone to get the correct settings for APNs
- Scheduled sync --- choose "Automatically sync data"; don't worry, you can turn this off later if you want too, it will just help sync your data if you add an account later in the setup
- Set up Wi-Fi network --- choose your Wi-Fi network
- Use Google location --- it's all up to you here, but it does help to let your apps know your location. I recommend you leave those on
- Tell HTC --- as you can read on the screen, Tell HTC is software that runs in the background. It's something similar to reporting errors on Windows
- Set up accounts --- you can always add accounts later, so I recommend you skip this step
Google account
As this is Android, you will have to sign in to your Google account. When you do this, your email will be synced to Gmail, your contact will show up in the People app from HTC and your calendar will be synced to the Calendar app also from HTC. You can always choose what items from your Google account you want to sync from Setting - Accounts & Sync - Google. I personally use all their services, so I leave all on.
HTC Mail app
HTC have made their own mail app so you can easily view all your account (Gmail, Yahoo, Hotmail, Exchange or other POP3 services). This is pretty useful and it works great. I only have the Hotmail and Yahoo accounts connected here, since Gmail does the rest.
HTC People app
All your contacts in one place. Nice, right? Not quite... It took me about a week to figure this one out, but I finally got it to work just right. I keep my contact on Google, you know, family, close friends, work people... and all the detailes I need are there, but when you start to use Facebook, Facebook for HTC, Tweeter, Yahoo and so on, you get all these messeges to sync your contacts. Fine, I did that, now my People app is full of "friends" I haven't spoken in years. They just lay there. And above it all you get all kinds of messages in the status bar to let you know you can "link" you contacts. A huge list if I might add . So whats the deal here?
Sure, linking your contact is useful. Say you don't have a friends email adress, but he posted it on Facebook, or his birthday, or something else. You can get them from linking his accounts and you can find all this info in his Contact Info page. Beside that, you have quick access to conversation history (txt or email), updates, gallery or call history. HTC Sense is great at that And even though Facebook and Facebook for HTC Sense target both the same service, there are a few diferences. For instance, the simple Facebook only syncs contact, while Facebook for HTC Sense syncs live feeds and calendars too for you to use on the Friend Stream app/widget or in the Calendar. The same goes for Twitter.
But when you start linking people, you see that their photo is being changed to whatever profile picture they have on Facebook, Tweeter or other services... and even their name can change too. To resolve this you just go into a persons contact info page, tap the chain icon at the top right hand corner, from there, tap the picture and choose from the list. The same for the name. Sure, you get previews of posts or text messages next to someone in the People app, but you get rid of those "stupid pictures"
Also, I found that having people actualy stored on the phone and not on Google, makes this process a little bit harder, because every time Facebook for HTC synced, contact photos changed. Very annoying.
I find it useful to sync contact from all services, what the hell, let's go crazy, but I sure don't like seing them all in the People app, so just tap the menu button, then tap View. Here you can scroll down to Options and pick what you want to be displayed. You won't lose contacts you don't pick, or the links between them, they just don't appear anymore. Jobe done.
As for creating contacts, be careful. By default, the contact type field is set to whatever category you are viewing in People. If you chose "Phone" here, the contact information will ONLY be present on your phone and it WILL NOT SYNC to other services like Gmail. I'm talking about information that you put there, not the one that is being synced. So in the end you must back them up if you plan to install a custom ROM, or you will lose them.
Accounts & sync
Don't be scared to dive deep in these settings and choose only what you want to sync. Every account has it's own settings, so be pationd.
Here I have my Google account syncing everything, Facebook is syncing contacts, Facebook for HTC Sense is also syncing everything but once a day, HTC Sense (yes, I have an account set up, and it doesn't drain the batery) has only Update when opened checked and update schedule is manual, News, Show Me and Stocks are all manualy updated too since I don't use them at all, Twitter syncs all but manual, Weather is syncing automatically every hour (not much trafic there). All these settings where mare having in mind that I have Auto-Sync enabled. Yes, I know, not so good, but the ammount of data being used is very little because it only has to do the hard job of getting all the stuff to my phone once, then it keeps track if that is up to date.
I hope I've touched every aspect and doubt that you might have had about HTC Sense. Chears.
You COULD read all the long posts above about how to get Sense working....or you could do the simple thing and just use CM7. I say rather than trying to get your feet wet with Sense, just jump straight off the deep end and S-OFF+root your phone and flash CM7. With CM7 you experience Android as it was meant to be experienced by Google. No extra nonsense, no crazy background syncing hogging your battery, just pure, silky smooth Android. Facebook just syncs your contacts with their picture and any phone numbers or email addresses listed on their facebook profile. You can also combine them with your Google contacts, so say for example you meet some girl at a bar and get her number and put it into your phone as a contact. Then later you become facebook friends with her. You can combine her facebook with the contact you already put in at the bar as one unit, and now in addition to the phone number you put in before, you now have her picture from facebook associated with her in your contacts book as well as any email addresses or other phone numbers from her facebook. This is all extremely simple and easy to do with the vanilla no-sense UI.
Not to mention the rom in general is lightning fast and smooth like warm butter It also has CPU management built in as well as tons of other features. It's the perfect combination of performance and simplicity.
to the clown above me
nobody and I mean nobody reads your damn posts,why?simply because they can't.Now stop with the annoying cyan posting
Ughhh... my eyes !
Why the awful colour ?
Macklessdaddy said:
to the clown above me
nobody and I mean nobody reads your damn posts,why?simply because they can't.Now stop with the annoying cyan posting
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
agreed. i cant even look at the screen when his post is above another im tryin to read
Having ruined my eyesight reading the cyan post above, it wasn't worth the effort. Seriously, I like Cyanogenmod as much as the next guy, but it's not answering the OP's question.
To the OP: Have you had a look on your SD card? When I got my Desire there was a proper manual on there in .pdf format. I've not checked on my Sensation because I put the SD card from my Desire into it when I upgraded. Failing that you can download it from here: http://www.htc.com/uk/help/htc-sensation/#download

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